YDS 2012 was a great success, with over 75 delegates attending the talks throughout the day. Delegates came from the Departments of Computer Science and Electronics from the University of York, with approximately 20% of the participants from external institutions.

The day included 8 research talks by students, on a wide range of subjects from modelling of biological systems to ad-hoc formation of communication networks in disaster scenarios. In addition, YDS hosted two keynote speakers; Patrick Dantressangle from IBM spoke about GaianDB and the Challenges of Distributed Databases and Prof. Dr. Kerstin Dautenhahn from the University of Hertfordshire presented her research on using Social Robots as Assistants, looking at using robots as therapeutic aids for children with autism.

There was also an industrial panel session, where the delegates had the opportunity to question representatives from our sponsors (Jon Sandles from IBM, Dr. Andrew Coombes from Rapita and James Nugent from Google). The session was very well received by the delegates, who asked probing questions about the differences between staying an academia and moving into industry after completion of their studies.

Throughout the day, 12 research posters were on display in the Atrium of the Ron Cooke Hub. This facilitated the discussion of the research with a wide audience, not limited to those attending YDS, engaging both undergraduate and postgraduate students from outside of the Departments of Computer Science and Electronics in the cutting edge research presented.

Although YDS 2012 is now over, the planning for YDS 2013 is underway.